Battery pack, method of controlling the same, and driving system of electro-mechanical apparatus including the same

ABSTRACT

A battery pack includes a plurality of rechargeable batteries, a sensor, and a battery manager. The sensor obtains motion information of the rechargeable batteries. The motion information includes at least one of first information obtained by sensing whether the rechargeable batteries are in a movement state or in a standstill state or second information on a state in which the rechargeable batteries are inclined. The second information may be obtained based on a change in angle when the rechargeable batteries are in the movement state. The battery manager control charging or discharging of the rechargeable batteries in a charge mode or a discharge mode based on the motion information.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

Korean Patent Application No. 10-2015-0013047, filed on Jan. 27, 2015,and entitled, “Battery Pack, Method of Controlling the Same, and DrivingSystem of Electro-Mechanical Apparatus Including the Same,” isincorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

1. Field

One or more embodiments described herein relate to a battery pack, amethod of controlling a battery pack, and a driving system of anelectro-mechanical apparatus including a battery pack.

2. Description of the Related Art

The demand for improved secondary (e.g., rechargeable) batteriescontinues to rise in order to meet the requirements of next-generateelectric and hybrid vehicles, and also various types of mobile devicesincluding but not limited to portable computers, mobile telephones, andcameras.

When used in hybrid vehicle, electric vehicle, electric bicycle, golfcar, or other electro-mechanical apparatus, the motor of the vehicle orapparatus may not only be used as a rotational driving source powered bythe secondary battery, but also as a power source that regeneratesenergy based on movement of the engine and wheels.

Charging and discharging of the secondary battery may be controlled toprotect against over-charged or over-discharged conditions. However,when the same method is used for charging, the stability of a batterypack including the secondary battery may deteriorate and/or use of theregenerated energy may be inefficient.

SUMMARY

In accordance with one or more embodiments, a battery pack including aplurality of rechargeable batteries; a sensor to obtain motioninformation of the rechargeable batteries, the motion informationincluding at least one of i) first information obtained by sensingwhether the rechargeable batteries are in a movement state or in astandstill state or ii) second information on a state in which therechargeable batteries are inclined, the second information to beobtained based on a change in angle when the rechargeable batteries arein the movement state; and a battery manager to receive the motioninformation of the rechargeable batteries from the sensor and to controlcharging or discharging of the rechargeable batteries in a charge modeor a discharge mode based on the motion information.

The battery manager may control charging or discharging of therechargeable batteries based on protection level data for protecting therechargeable batteries, the battery manager may apply differentprotection level data in the charge mode and the discharge mode based onthe motion information. The protection level data may include dataindicative of at least one of an over-charge reference current, anover-charge reference voltage, an over-discharge reference current, oran over-discharge reference voltage.

When the rechargeable batteries are in the movement state and whencharge current is received by the rechargeable batteries, the batterymanager may control charging of the rechargeable the batteries in afirst charge mode. When the rechargeable batteries are in a standstillstate and when charge current is received by the rechargeable batteries,the battery manager may control charging of rechargeable batteries in asecond charge mode.

The protection level data in the first charge mode and the second chargemode may include data corresponding to at least one of the over-chargereference voltage or the over-charge reference current, and theover-charge reference voltage or current value in the first charge modemay be larger than the over-charge reference voltage or current value inthe second charge mode.

Charge current may be received by the rechargeable batteries when therechargeable batteries are in a movement state, and when a slope valueof the rechargeable batteries is in a first period, the battery managermay control charging of the rechargeable batteries in a third chargemode. When the rechargeable batteries are in a movement state and whenthe rechargeable batteries are discharged, the battery manager maycontrol discharging of the rechargeable batteries based on protectionlevel data that is differently set based on a period in which a slopevalue of the rechargeable batteries is included. The protection leveldata may include data corresponding to at least one of an over-dischargereference current or an over-discharge reference voltage.

In accordance with one or more other embodiments, a driving system of anelectro-mechanical apparatus includes a motor to drive anelectro-mechanical apparatus; a battery pack to supply driving power tothe motor, the battery pack including: a sensor to obtain motioninformation of a plurality of batteries and the electro-mechanicalapparatus and a battery manager to control charging and discharging ofthe batteries; and an inverter, connected between the motor and thebattery pack, to convert current generated by the motor to regeneratedenergy to be provided to the battery pack, wherein the battery manageris to control charging or discharging of the batteries in a charge modeor a discharge mode corresponding to motion information of theelectro-mechanical apparatus.

When the electro-mechanical apparatus is in a movement state and whencharge current is received by the battery pack, the battery manager maydetermine that the battery pack is charged by regenerated energygenerated by the motor and is to control charging of the batteries withreference to over-charge preventing protection level data set tocorrespond to charging by the regenerated energy.

When the electro-mechanical apparatus is in a standstill state and whenthe charge current is received by the battery pack, the battery managermay determine that the battery pack is being charged based on externalpower and is to control charging the batteries with reference toover-charge preventing protection level data set to correspond to chargeby the external power.

The over-charge preventing protection level data may be set tocorrespond to charging by the regenerated energy and the over-chargepreventing protection level data may be set to correspond charging bythe external power includes data on at least one of the over-chargereference voltage or the over-charge reference current, and a value ofthe over-charge preventing protection level data set to correspond tocharging by the regenerated energy may be larger than the over-chargepreventing protection level data set to correspond to charging by theexternal power source.

In accordance with one or more other embodiments, an apparatus aninterface; and control logic to receive motion information for aplurality of batteries through the interface and to control charging ordischarging of the batteries based on the motion the information, themotion information including at least one of i) first informationcorresponding to whether the batteries are in a movement state or in astandstill state, or ii) second information indicative of an inclinedstate of the batteries.

The control logic may control charging of the batteries based on firstprotection level data and is to control discharging of the batteriesbased on second protection level data, the first protection level datadifferent from the second protection level data. Each of the first andsecond protection level data may include data indicative of at least oneof an over-charge reference current, an over-charge reference voltage,an over-discharge reference current, or an over-discharge referencevoltage. Charge current may be received by the batteries when thebatteries are in the movement state.

The control logic may control charging of the batteries when a slopevalue of the batteries is in a predetermined range. The control logicmay be controlled based on instructions stored in a storage area. Theinterface may include first code to input the motion information tosecond code of the control logic.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Features will become apparent to those of skill in the art by describingin detail exemplary embodiments with reference to the attached drawingsin which:

FIG. 1 illustrates an embodiment of a driving system for anelectro-mechanical apparatus including a battery pack;

FIG. 2 illustrates an embodiment of the battery pack;

FIG. 3 illustrates an embodiment of a method for controlling a chargingoperation of a battery pack;

FIG. 4 illustrates another embodiment of a method for controlling acharging operation of a battery pack; and

FIG. 5 illustrates an embodiment of a method for controlling adischarging operation of a battery pack.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Example embodiments are described more fully hereinafter with referenceto the accompanying drawings; however, they may be embodied in differentforms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments setforth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that thisdisclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully conveyexemplary implementations to those skilled in the art. The embodimentsmay be combined to form additional embodiments. Like reference numeralsrefer to like elements throughout.

FIG. 1 illustrates an embodiment of a driving system for anelectro-mechanical apparatus including a battery pack. Theelectro-mechanical apparatus may be, for example, an electric bicycle,an electric vehicle, a golf car, or another type of electro-mechanicalvehicle or apparatus. The apparatus may be, for example, any apparatusor vehicle in which a motor is driven by a power source stored in abattery pack and a driving force of the motor is transmitted to wheels,so that traveling may be performed and energy may be regenerated by theelectro-mechanical apparatus or vehicle.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, the driving system includes a battery pack 1,an inverter 3, a motor 5, and a controller 7. The battery pack 1 servesas a power source for driving the motor 5 and is charged based onelectrical energy from an external power source and/or regeneratedenergy from the motor 5.

The inverter 3 may convert a voltage output from the battery pack 1 to avoltage suitable for a driving voltage of the motor 5. The motor 5receives an alternating current (AC) voltage from the inverter 3 tosupport an output torque of an engine, and operates as a generator whensurplus torque exists in an output of an engine or during braking sothat energy may be regenerated. The controller 7 outputs a controlsignal for operating the inverter 3 and monitors the inverter 3 and/orthe motor 5 to control the inverter 3 or the motor 5.

FIG. 2 illustrates an embodiment of a battery pack 1 which includes aplurality of battery units 10, a charge and discharge control switch 22,a battery management unit 20, and a sensing unit 30. The rechargeablebattery units 10 may be accommodated in a housing of the battery pack 1and may be serially connected or connected in parallel by a connectionmember that connects electrode terminals of the battery units 10.

The battery units 10 may be secondary batteries to be charged ordischarged in accordance with consumption or supply of electric energy.For example, the secondary batteries may include a nickel-cadmiumbattery, a lead storage battery, a nickel metal hydride (NiMH) battery,a lithium battery, a lithium polymer battery, and/or another type ofbattery.

The sensing unit 30 is provided in the battery pack 1 and obtains motioninformation of the battery units 10. For example, the sensing unit 30may obtain motion information of the battery units 10 and output theobtained motion information as an electrical signal. The motioninformation obtained by the sensing unit 30 may include at least one ofi) information obtained by sensing whether the battery units 10 are in amovement state or in a standstill state or ii) information on a state inwhich the battery units 10 are inclined (which may be obtained, forexample, by sensing a change in angle) when the battery units 10 are inthe movement state. For example, the sensing unit 30 may output anelectrical signal that represents whether the battery units 10 are inthe movement state or in the standstill state, or an electrical signalindicative of a slope of the battery units 10.

The sensing unit 30 may be, for example, a gyro sensor that detectsacceleration to obtain the motion information, an acceleration sensorthat measures acceleration of a moving object or intensity of shock toobtain the motion information, or a motion sensor that performs thefunctions of the gyro sensor and the acceleration sensor.

In another embodiment, the battery units 10 are fixedly accommodated inthe housing of the battery pack 1. Thus, movement of the battery units10 may be considered as movement of the battery pack 1 and/or movementof the electro-mechanical apparatus including the battery pack 1. Forexample, the sensing unit 30, which is provided in the battery pack 1,may obtain motion information of the battery pack 1 and motioninformation of the electro-mechanical apparatus in which the batterypack 1 is provided.

The battery management unit 20 controls charge and discharge operationsof the battery units 10 using the charge and discharge control switch22. For example, the battery management unit 20 may output an operationsignal for controlling on/off of a charge control switch 22B during acharge operation or may output an operation signal for controllingon/off of a discharge control switch 22A during a discharge operation.

In addition, the battery management unit 20 may monitor charge states ordischarge states of the battery units 10, temperature, and/or a currentflow state in the battery pack 1. The battery pack 1 may further includemeasuring terminals to allow the battery management unit 20 to measurean intermediate voltage and the temperature and to monitor the chargestates or the discharge states and the current flow.

The battery management unit 20 may turn off the charge control switch22B to protect the battery unit 10 when something is wrong with (e.g.,an error condition, malfunction, or other predetermined event or mode)the battery pack 1 during the charge operation. The battery managementunit 20 may turn off the discharge control switch 22A to protect thebattery unit 10 when something is wrong with the battery pack 1 duringthe discharge operation. The battery management unit 20 may control thecharge and discharge switch 22 with reference to protection level data,e.g., which may be a standard by which protection operation for thebattery units 10 is driven.

The protection level data may include, for example, data on anover-charge reference voltage, an over-charge reference current, anover-discharge reference voltage, and/or an over-discharge referencecurrent. The protection level data may be set to be differently appliedwith reference to at least one of i) information on whether the batteryunits 10 are charged or discharged, ii) information that representswhether the plurality of battery units 10 are in the movement state orin the standstill state, or iii) information indicative of the degree towhich the battery units 10 are inclined.

For example, since the battery management unit 20 controls charge ordischarge of the battery units 10 with reference to protection leveldata that is differently applied in based on movements of the batteryunits 10, different charge modes or discharge modes may be applied inaccordance with the movements of the battery units 10.

In one embodiment, the battery pack 1 may include a read only memory(ROM), an electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), and/or aflash memory to store the protection level data and an equivalent memorydevice.

FIGS. 3 to 5 illustrate an embodiment of a method for controllingcharge/discharge of the battery pack 1. The battery pack 1 may includean external input terminal for supplying a power source of the batteryunits 10 to an external load (for example, motor), receiving power fromthe external power source, and/or receiving regenerated energy from themotor.

FIG. 3 illustrates an embodiment of a method for controlling charging ofthe battery pack. As illustrated in FIG. 3, the method includes thebattery management unit 20 monitoring the current flow state in thebattery pack 1 to sense whether charge current is being received by thebattery pack 1 (S300), and to receive a signal with respect to themotion information of the battery units 10 output from the sensing unit30 (S310).

When charge current is being received by the battery pack 1 and themotion information of the battery units 10 from the battery managementunit 20 indicates that the battery units 10 are in the movement state(S320), the method includes controlling charging of the battery units 10in a first charge mode (S330).

When the motion information of the battery units 10 from the batterymanagement unit 20 indicates that the battery units 10 are in thestandstill state in operation S320, the method includes controllingcharging of the battery units 10 in a second charge mode (S340).

When the battery pack is charged based on power from an external powersource, the charge current is received (e.g., constant current charge)in a state in which a charge current value is uniform or the chargecurrent is received (e.g., constant voltage charge) in a state in whicha current value is controlled so that a charge voltage value is uniform.When the regenerated energy is received to charge the battery pack, thecharge current value or the charge voltage value is randomly receivedand a larger current value may be received which is larger than acurrent value for charging the battery pack based on power from theexternal power source.

In such a case, when a charge block for preventing over-charge iscontrolled by applying the same protection level data as when thebattery pack is charged based on the regenerated energy (e.g., the sameprotection level is used when the battery pack is charged based on powerfrom the external power source and based on the regenerated energy), thevalue of energy supplied to the battery units 10 may be less than avalue of the regenerated energy. Therefore, the regenerated energy maybe inefficiently used.

For example, when the battery pack is charged by the regenerated energy,the range of the protection level data set for preventing over-chargemay be larger than for protection level data applied when the batterypack is charged by common external power. When the charge current isreceived by the battery pack 1, a determination may be made as towhether the battery pack 1 is charged by the common external power orthe regenerated energy so that suitable protection level data may beapplied.

According to the embodiment, when the charge current is received by thebattery pack 1 while the battery pack 1 is moving, it is determined thatthe battery pack 1 is charged by the regenerated energy, so thatcharging is controlled in a first charge mode, e.g., a charge mode withreference to protection level data set to be applied when the batterypack is charged by the regenerated energy. When the charge current isreceived by the battery pack 1 when the battery pack 1 is in thestandstill state, it is determined that the battery pack 1 is charged bythe common external power source, so that charge may be controlled in asecond charge mode, e.g., a charge mode with reference to protectionlevel data set to be applied when the battery pack is charged by theexternal power source.

At this time, as described above, the protection level data (forexample, an over-charge reference voltage or an over-charge referencecurrent for preventing over-charge) set in the first charge mode may beset to be larger than the protection level data set in the second chargemode.

According to another embodiment, a charge controlling method that isdifferently applied in accordance with the movement state of the batterypack, which is obtained from a slope value of the battery pack, will bedescribed.

FIG. 4 illustrates an embodiment of a method for controlling charge of abattery pack. As illustrated in FIG. 4, first, the battery managementunit 20 monitors the current flow state in the battery pack 1 to sensewhether the charge current is received by the battery pack 1 (S410), andmay receive the signal with respect to the motion information of thebattery units 10 output from the sensing unit 30 (S420).

When the charge current is received by the battery pack 1 and the motioninformation of the battery units 10 obtained by the battery managementunit 20 indicates that the battery units 10 are in the standstill state(S430), charge of the battery units 10 may be controlled in the secondcharge mode (S450). For example, as described above, when the chargecurrent is received when the battery pack 1 is in the standstill state,it is determined that the battery pack 1 is charged by the externalpower source and charge of the battery units 10 may be suitablycontrolled in first charge mode.

When the motion information of the battery units 10 obtained by thebattery management unit 20 indicates that the battery units 10 are inthe movement state (S430), different charge modes may be applied inaccordance with whether a slope value a (e.g., a degree to which thebattery units 10 are inclined) is included in a predetermined period.

For example, when the slope value a of the battery units 10 is includedin a first period, charging of the battery units 10 is controlled in athird charge mode (S470). When slope value a is not in the first period,charging of the battery units 10 may be controlled in the second chargemode (S480).

In an electro-mechanical apparatus that regenerates energy, when thespeed is reduced by operating a brake in a state in which theelectro-mechanical apparatus is travelling, inertial force is generatedby the electro-mechanical apparatus so that the electro-mechanicalapparatus tries to continuously travel. At this time, the motor isdriven in reverse by the inertia force, so that the motor operates as agenerator and performs regenerative braking to generate electricity tocharge the battery pack.

In charging the battery pack by the regenerated energy, when the batterypack 1 is charged by regenerated energy generated by operating a brakewhen the electro-mechanical apparatus travels on a flatland, and whenthe battery pack 1 is charged by the regenerated energy generated whenthe electro-mechanical apparatus travels on a downhill road, an averagecharge current value and a maximum charge current value that arereceived to the battery pack 1 may be different. Therefore, the range ofprotection level data for preventing over-charge when the battery pack 1is charged by the regenerated energy generated when theelectro-mechanical apparatus travels the flatland may be set to bedifferent from that of protection level data for preventing over-chargewhen the battery pack 1 is charged by the regenerated energy generatedwhen the electro-mechanical apparatus travels on the downhill road

According to one embodiment, as described above, when the charge currentis received by the battery pack 1 when the battery pack 1 is moving, itis determined that the battery pack 1 is charged by the regeneratedenergy. When the degree to which the battery pack 1 is inclined deviatesfrom the first period (e.g., when the battery pack 1 is charged by theregenerated energy generated by operating the brake in theelectro-mechanical apparatus that is travelling on the flatland),charging of the battery pack 1 is controlled in the first charge mode.Unlike the above, when the slope value a of the battery pack 1 isincluded in the first period (e.g., when surplus torque is generated bythe electro-mechanical apparatus that is travelling on the downhill roadso that the regenerated energy is generated), charging of the batterypack 1 may be controlled in the third charge mode.

According to one embodiment, when the charge current is received by thebattery pack 1, the movement state of the battery pack 1 is determinedby the sensing unit 30 in the battery pack 1, so that a method by whichthe battery pack 1 is charged may be easily determined. Further,charging the battery pack 1 may be controlled by applying a charge modesuitable for the charge method.

For example, when the charge current is received by the battery pack 1and the battery pack 1 is in the standstill state, it is determined thatthe battery pack 1 is charged by the external power source, so thatcharging the battery pack 1 is controlled (in the second charge mode)with reference to protection level data set to be suitable.

When the charge current is received by the battery pack 1 and theelectro-mechanical apparatus is in the movement state in which the slopevalue a is not included in the first period, it is determined that thebattery pack 1 is charged by regenerated energy generated by operatingthe brake in the electro-mechanical apparatus that is travelling on theflatland, so that charging the battery pack 1 may be controlled (thefirst charge mode) with reference to protection level data set to besuitable.

Finally, when the charge current is received by the battery pack 1 andthe slope value a of the battery pack 1 is in the movement state inwhich the slope value a is included in the first period, it isdetermined that the battery pack 1 is charged by the regenerated energy(generated by generating surplus torque generated by theelectro-mechanical apparatus travelling on a downhill road) so thatcharging the battery pack 1 may be controlled (the third charge mode)with reference to protection level data set to be suitable.

Therefore, the battery pack according to one or more embodimentsperforms an over-charge protecting operation for reducing heatgeneration of the battery pack, which may improve stability of thebattery pack and efficient use the regenerated energy.

According to another embodiment, a discharge controlling method isdescribed that is differently applied in accordance with the movementstate of the battery pack 1, obtained from the slope value of thebattery pack 1 when the battery pack 1 is moving while the battery pack1 is discharged.

FIG. 5 illustrates an embodiment of a method for controlling dischargeof a battery pack. As illustrated in FIG. 5, first, the batterymanagement unit 20 monitors the current flow state in the battery pack 1to sense whether the battery pack 1 is discharged (S510) and receivesthe signal with respect to the motion information of the battery units10 output from the sensing unit 30 (S520).

When a discharge current is received by the battery pack 1 and thebattery units 10 are in the movement state, the battery management unit20 may determine whether the slope value a (that is the degree to whichthe battery units 10 are inclined) is included in a third period, inoperations S530 and S540.

When it is determined that the slope value a is included in the thirdperiod, discharging the battery units 10 is controlled in a firstdischarge mode (S550). When it is determined than the slope value a isnot included in the third period, discharging the battery units 10 maybe controlled in a second discharge mode (S560).

When the battery units 10 are discharged, in order to preventover-discharge, protection level data for preventing over-discharge(e.g., an over-discharge reference voltage value and an over-dischargereference current value) are set and a discharge current may be blockedbased on the protection level data for preventing over-discharge.

Also, in driving an electro-mechanical apparatus including the batterypack 1, there is a difference in required power between when theelectro-mechanical apparatus travels on a flatland and when theelectro-mechanical apparatus travels on an uphill road. When theover-discharge preventing protection level data value is set to be high(even though large power for driving the electro-mechanical apparatus isrequired) so that it is expected that a voltage of the battery pack isremarkably reduced within a short time, the discharge current is easilyblocked so that the electro-mechanical apparatus may not be easilydriven. Therefore, the over-discharge preventing protection level datavalue set to be applied to the case in which the slope value of thebattery units 10 is included in the third period (e.g., the case inwhich the electro-mechanical apparatus including the battery packtravels on the uphill road so that large power is required) may bedifferent from the over-discharge preventing protection level data value(when the slope value is not included in the third period and may besmaller than the over-discharge preventing protection level data valueapplied to a discharge state in which the slope value is not included inthe third period).

In setting the protection level data for preventing over-discharge, theprotection level data may be set to vary in accordance with the motioninformation of the battery pack 1, e.g., the movement state of theelectro-mechanical apparatus including that battery pack 1. Therefore,it is possible to secure stability of the battery pack 1 and to improvedriving efficiency of the apparatus including the battery pack.

In accordance with one or more embodiments, the first, second, and thirdperiods for describing the slope value a of the battery pack may be P(R,−90°)<the first period <P(R, −θ), P(R, −θ≦the second period≦P(R, θ),P(R, θ)<the third period<P(R, 90°) based on a polar coordinate system.The value of θ may be changed within a range in which theelectro-mechanical apparatus including the battery pack is positioned onthe flatland. For example, the first period may represent that theelectro-mechanical apparatus including the battery pack is positioned onthe downhill road, the second period may represent that theelectro-mechanical apparatus including the battery pack is positioned onthe flatland, and the third period may represent that theelectro-mechanical apparatus including the battery pack is positioned onthe uphill road.

In accordance with another embodiment, an apparatus includes aninterface and control logic to receive motion information for aplurality of batteries through the interface and to control charging ordischarging of the batteries based on the motion the information. Themotion information includes at least one of i) first informationcorresponding to whether the batteries are in a movement state or in astandstill state, or ii) second information indicative of an inclinedstate of the batteries.

The interface may take various forms. For example, when the controllogic is embodied in an integrated circuit chip, the interface may beone or more output terminals, leads, wires, ports, signal lines, orother type of interface of the chip within or coupled to the driver.Some of the signals lines are illustratively shown in FIG. 2, forexample. The control logic may correspond to or preform functions of thebattery management unit 20 explained with reference to theaforementioned embodiments.

The control logic may include, for example, may include hardware,software, or both. When implemented at least partially in hardware, thecontrol logic may be, for example, any one of a variety of integratedcircuits including but not limited to an application-specific integratedcircuit, a field-programmable gate array, a combination of logic gates,a system-on-chip, a microprocessor, or other processing or controlcircuits.

When implemented in at least partially in software, the control logicmay include, for example, a memory or other storage device for storingcode or instructions to be executed, for example, by a computer,processor, microprocessor, controller, or other signal processingdevice. The computer, processor, microprocessor, controller, or othersignal processing device may be those described herein or one inaddition to the elements described herein. Because the algorithms thatform the basis of the methods (or operations of the computer, processor,microprocessor, controller, or other signal processing device) aredescribed in detail, the code or instructions for implementing theoperations of the method embodiments may transform the computer,processor, controller, or other signal processing device into aspecial-purpose processor for performing the methods described herein.

The control logic controls charging of the batteries based on firstprotection level data and is to control discharging of the batteriesbased on second protection level data, the first protection level datadifferent from the second protection level data. Each of the first andsecond protection level data includes data indicative of at least one ofan over-charge reference current, an over-charge reference voltage, anover-discharge reference current, or an over-discharge referencevoltage. Charge current is received by the batteries when the batteriesare in the movement state. The control logic may control charging of thebatteries when a slope value of the batteries is in a predeterminedrange.

As indicated, the control logic may be controlled based on instructionsstored in a storage area, e.g., a memory. In this case, interface maycorrespond, for example, to any of the aforementioned types or maycorrespond to first code to input the motion information to second codeof the control logic.

Another embodiment may include a computer-readable medium, e.g., anon-transitory computer-readable medium, for storing the code orinstructions for performing operations of the battery management systemor control logic of the aforementioned embodiments. Thecomputer-readable medium may be a volatile or non-volatile memory orother storage device, which may be removably or fixedly coupled to thecomputer, processor, controller, or other signal processing device whichis to execute the code or instructions for performing the methodembodiments described herein.

Example embodiments have been disclosed herein, and although specificterms are employed, they are used and are to be interpreted in a genericand descriptive sense only and not for purpose of limitation. In someinstances, as would be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art asof the filing of the present application, features, characteristics,and/or elements described in connection with a particular embodiment maybe used singly or in combination with features, characteristics, and/orelements described in connection with other embodiments unless otherwisespecifically indicated. Accordingly, it will be understood by those ofskill in the art that various changes in form and details may be madewithout departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention asset forth in the following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A battery pack, comprising: a plurality ofrechargeable batteries; a sensor to obtain motion information of therechargeable batteries, the motion information including at least one ofi) first information obtained by sensing whether the rechargeablebatteries are in a movement state or in a standstill state or ii) secondinformation on a state in which the rechargeable batteries are inclined,the second information to be obtained based on a change in angle whenthe rechargeable batteries are in the movement state; and a batterymanager to receive the motion information of the rechargeable batteriesfrom the sensor and to control charging or discharging of therechargeable batteries in a charge mode or a discharge mode based on themotion information.
 2. The battery pack as claimed in claim 1, wherein:the battery manager is to control charging or discharging of therechargeable batteries based on protection level data for protecting therechargeable batteries, the battery manager to apply differentprotection level data in the charge mode and the discharge mode based onthe motion information.
 3. The battery pack as claimed in claim 2,wherein the protection level data includes data indicative of at leastone of an over-charge reference current, an over-charge referencevoltage, an over-discharge reference current, or an over-dischargereference voltage.
 4. The battery pack as claimed in claim 2, wherein:when the rechargeable batteries are in the movement state and whencharge current is received by the rechargeable batteries, the batterymanager is to control charging of the rechargeable the batteries in afirst charge mode.
 5. The battery pack as claimed in claim 4, wherein:when the rechargeable batteries are in a standstill state and whencharge current is received by the rechargeable batteries, the batterymanager is to control charging of rechargeable batteries in a secondcharge mode.
 6. The battery pack as claimed in claim 5, wherein: theprotection level data in the first charge mode and the second chargemode include data corresponding to at least one of the over-chargereference voltage or the over-charge reference current, and theover-charge reference voltage or current value in the first charge modeis larger than the over-charge reference voltage or current value in thesecond charge mode.
 7. The battery pack as claimed in claim 4, wherein:charge current is received by the rechargeable batteries when therechargeable batteries are in a movement state, and when a slope valueof the rechargeable batteries is in a first period, the battery manageris to control charging of the rechargeable batteries in a third chargemode.
 8. The battery pack as claimed in claim 1, wherein: when therechargeable batteries are in a movement state and when the rechargeablebatteries are discharged, the battery manager is to control dischargingof the rechargeable batteries based on protection level data that isdifferently set based on a period in which a slope value of therechargeable batteries is included.
 9. The battery pack as claimed inclaim 8, wherein the protection level data includes data correspondingto at least one of an over-discharge reference current or anover-discharge reference voltage.
 10. A driving system of anelectro-mechanical apparatus, comprising a motor to drive anelectro-mechanical apparatus; a battery pack to supply driving power tothe motor, the battery pack including: a sensor to obtain motioninformation of a plurality of batteries and the electro-mechanicalapparatus and a battery manager to control charging and discharging ofthe batteries; and an inverter, connected between the motor and thebattery pack, to convert current generated by the motor to regeneratedenergy to be provided to the battery pack, wherein the battery manageris to control charging or discharging of the batteries in a charge modeor a discharge mode corresponding to motion information of theelectro-mechanical apparatus.
 11. The driving system as claimed in claim10, wherein: when the electro-mechanical apparatus is in a movementstate and when charge current is received by the battery pack, thebattery manager is to determine that the battery pack is charged byregenerated energy generated by the motor and is to control charging ofthe batteries with reference to over-charge preventing protection leveldata set to correspond to charging by the regenerated energy.
 12. Thedriving system as claimed in claim 11, wherein: when theelectro-mechanical apparatus is in a standstill state and when thecharge current is received by the battery pack, the battery manager isto determine that the battery pack is being charged based on externalpower and is to control charging the batteries with reference toover-charge preventing protection level data set to correspond to chargeby the external power.
 13. The driving system as claimed in claim 12,wherein: the over-charge preventing protection level data set tocorrespond to charging by the regenerated energy and the over-chargepreventing protection level data set to correspond charging by theexternal power includes data on at least one of the over-chargereference voltage or the over-charge reference current, and a value ofthe over-charge preventing protection level data set to correspond tocharging by the regenerated energy is larger than the over-chargepreventing protection level data set to correspond to charging by theexternal power source.
 14. An apparatus, comprising: an interface; andcontrol logic to receive motion information for a plurality of batteriesthrough the interface and to control charging or discharging of thebatteries based on the motion the information, the motion informationincluding at least one of: i) first information corresponding to whetherthe batteries are in a movement state or in a standstill state, or ii)second information indicative of an inclined state of the batteries. 15.The apparatus as claimed in claim 14, wherein the control logic is tocontrol charging of the batteries based on first protection level dataand is to control discharging of the batteries based on secondprotection level data, the first protection level data different fromthe second protection level data.
 16. The apparatus as claimed in claim15, wherein each of the first and second protection level data includesdata indicative of at least one of an over-charge reference current, anover-charge reference voltage, an over-discharge reference current, oran over-discharge reference voltage.
 17. The apparatus as claimed inclaim 15, wherein charge current is received by the batteries when thebatteries are in the movement state.
 18. The apparatus as claimed inclaim 15, wherein the control logic is to control charging of thebatteries when a slope value of the batteries is in a predeterminedrange.
 19. The apparatus as claimed in claim 14, wherein the controllogic is controlled based on instructions stored in a storage area. 20.The apparatus as claimed in claim 19, wherein the interface includesfirst code to input the motion information to second code of the controllogic.